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Genocide Denial at Center of Mass. Judicial Nomination

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  • Genocide Denial at Center of Mass. Judicial Nomination

    Genocide Denial at Center of Mass. Judicial Nomination

    http://www.horizonweekly.ca/news/details/24587
    November 21, 2013
    Joseph Berman


    BOSTON - Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick's nominee for a seat on
    the Commonwealth's Superior Court is facing opposition because of his
    leadership role in the Anti-Defamation League and that organization's
    refusal to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

    The Boston Globe reported Thursday, that Joseph S. Berman's nomination
    is being opposed by members of the eight-person elected panel that
    approves judicial nominations.

    Councilor Marilyn M. Pettito Devaney, a Democrat from Watertown, led
    the opposition to Berman, saying she had the five votes needed to
    reject his nomination.

    She stood and denounced Berman's affiliation with the Anti-Defamation
    League, as the governor, who chairs the panel, looked on, chagrined,
    reported the Boston Globe.

    `In 1939, Hitler, carrying out his horrific mission to exterminate the
    Jews, said, `Who remembers the Armenians?'' Devaney said, her voice
    trembling and eyes filling with tears. `I do. And many others do,
    too,' according to the Boston Globe.

    Devaney said if she belonged to `a group who denied the Holocaust,'
    she would resign. Several other councilors agreed that Berman's ties
    to the Anti-Defamation League are a concern, while raising their own
    separate objections.

    The opposition forced Gov. Patrick to postpone Berman's approval to December 4.

    Berman's nominations and the ADL's Genocide denial took center stage
    in 2007 when the organization launched its `No Place for Hate'
    campaign, causing backlash from the Armenian-American community in
    Massachusetts, which claimed that an organization that unequivocally
    denies the Armenian Genocide had no place in public schools promoting
    anti-discrimination.

    A campaign called `No Place for Denial,' led by the Armenian National
    Committee of America Eastern Mass. Chapter and including a
    cross-section of the Armenian-American community vocally opposed ADL's
    efforts.

    In 2007, the ADL fired its New England regional director, Andrew H.
    Tarsy, after he acknowledged the Armenian Genocide in opposition to
    the national leadership.

    ADL's national director Abraham Foxman has gone on record to say that
    the events of 1915 were `tantamount to Genocide,' but did not label it
    as such. He has also actively lobbied against Armenian Genocide
    resolutions in Congress.

    According to the Boston Globe, Councilor Devaney stood firm on her
    opposition, saying: `We're not going to change our minds. To prolong
    this serves no purpose.'

    Councilor Terrence W. Kennedy agreed, saying that even though he
    supports Berman, a delay will not save the nomination, reported the
    Globe. `It's a democracy, and I don't think the vote is going to
    change,' he told Patrick.

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